Befriending Sword
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: In a twist of fate, Yuuno lands in the wrong city and ends up turning Shirou Emiya into a "magical boy"...and in so doing he rewrites the destiny in store for the red head. Now Shirou has to deal with irate Tsunderes, confused ferrets, overprotective sisters, and a split personality Sakura, all while retrieving the seeds that were lost! Talk about a headache.
1. Chapter 1

**_Someone requested more Nanoha Crossovers. Also, Happy Birthday_** Have a Little Feith!

* * *

At the tender age of thirteen, Shirou Emiya had already experienced more tragedy and pain that would make a lesser man broken and empty.

At age seven, he survived a blaze that claimed hundreds and left countless more scarred either physically, emotionally, or mentally for the remainder of their lives. He came out of that fire a blank slate, having sacrificed his 'self' in order to survive more or less intact.

At age eight he convinced his adopted father, who was the one to rescue him from that fire that destroyed everything it touched, to make him a Magus so he could save others from such death and destruction that had left him barely alive.

At age nine he first 'awakened' his circuits, unaware that he had misunderstood his father and had horribly skewed the ritual causing him to use his own nerves as circuits. His natural ones, if left to atrophy, would never reach their full potential and would eventually cause him even more pain when he finally did learn how to use them correctly.

At age ten he was nearly paralyzed for life because he had used the wrong nerves in order to practice his magecraft. He quickly learned that he should pace himself before he landed in the hospital...again.

At age twelve, he lost his father who in his dying breath left the boy with his ideal. To be a hero who didn't have to sacrifice the few to save the many.

It had been a year, but the death of Kiritsugu Emiya had affected Shirou deeply. However his brief time as Shirou's father had left another, more lasting impression.

He had set Shirou on the path of a hero, one that could make or break him.

So shortly after the archery club ended a little late, Shirou decided to take a detour through the Fuyuki park...which was why he was the only one to see a ten-year-old blond boy in odd clothing fighting a monster with a red bauble in his hand.

He heard the word 'seal', and saw a magic circle, but it was pretty clear that the kid didn't have enough power to fully seal away the monster.

His ingrained instincts to help had him running towards the unconscious boy when the monster left. Only for the kid in question to abruptly turn into a ferret, of all things.

Shirou did know the address of the vet the Fujimura clan used for their guard dogs. However, it was closed because of an 'accident', which he translated to 'attack'. He wasn't completely oblivious to the fact the Fujimura clan was Yakuza.

So Shirou gathered up the ferret-boy and took him back to his house, where he wrapped him up in some bandages after treating his wounds. He even picked up the odd Mystic Code the ferret had been using.

* * *

The ferret woke up around dinner, and by that time his nose was twitching at the smells from the kitchen. He opened his eyes to find...he wasn't in the park anymore.

He was inside a house on a comfy pillow, with his wounds bandaged by a careful, if inexpert hand. He wasn't in nearly as much pain as before, but he was still weak. Raging Heart was right next to him. It was modest, but very comfortable.

Well, that and his nose was picking up some really, really delicious smells from the kitchen, where a boy a little older than him was hard at work cooking.

When the boy went to put food on the table, he realized that the 'ferret' was awake.

"Oh good... I was hoping you weren't too badly hurt by that monster thing. I really didn't want to explain to Fuji-nee about a picking up a ferret," said the boy relieved.

The 'ferret' made a quizzical sound. He didn't want to get arrested for illegal first contact on an Non-administrated world.

The boy gave him an unimpressed look.

"I saw you try to seal a monster with a Mystic Code that didn't work, so don't try to pretend you're just a ferret. I know the rules, and I'm not going to turn you in to some scientists for experimentation."

"You saw that?!" yelped the ferret in surprise, before he covered his mouth with his paws in embarrassment.

"I was walking home late from archery practice and took a detour. Lucky for you I did, because not even the homeless like staying in the park at night."

The ferret shivered. There had been something really, really off about that park.

"So what's your name?" asked the boy.

"Yuuno Scrya."

"Shirou Emiya," said the red head, holding out his hand for the ferret to shake. Once he did, Shirou asked "So are you hungry? Fuji-nee is out of town at the moment so there's plenty here."

Yuuno's stomach growled, and Shirou merely grinned.

It was always nice to be appreciated.

Once dinner was finished, Yuuno stared at the boy who rescued him with wide green eyes.

"So...you're aware of magic?"

"I'm a partially trained Magus, even if the only thing I've ever had success with is reinforcement. My dad tried to train me, but I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked before he died last year."

"I'm sorry. So is your mother around?"

Shirou shook his head.

"The closest thing to a legal guardian I have is Fuji-nee, and she mostly makes sure I'm okay...and to bum off food, because she can't cook if her life depended on it."

Yuuno realized there was a story behind that, and wisely dropped the subject.

"So what was with that monster and that weird Mystic Code you were using?" asked Shirou.

"Intelligent Device. And that 'monster' was a Lost Logia called a Jewel Seed that was scattered along with a few others after an explosion during transport. I came here first to try and collect as many as I could, but...well, you saw what happened."

"Why would you try to collect those things?"

"I was the one who found them. I'm a junior archeologist and cataloger. I found them during a dig, and while they were on route to Midchilda there was an explosion and they were scattered. I figured I could at the very least make sure they didn't cause too much destruction... but my linker core was too weak to effectively use Raging Heart."

"Intelligent Device? Linker core?"

Yuuno settled onto the pillow and began a detailed explanation of devices and linker cores. Shirou scratched his head.

"Sounds like prana and circuits to me. I suppose these devices could be classed as mystic codes..." he said after a thought. And with that mental translation, it made understanding what Yuuno said a bit easier.

"In any case there's very little to stop the Jewel seeds from going on a major rampage, since I don't have enough power to do so and there isn't any way to contact the TSAB with any acceptable time for help to arrive..."

"I'll help," said Shirou suddenly, catching Yuuno off guard.

"What?"

"I'll help. If I can. No way am I letting the city be destroyed twice if I can do something about it. Besides, I've always wanted to be a hero," said Shirou firmly.

"Well I'm not sure if you can. From the sound of things, your 'circuits' and linker cores are two different things. There is a small, a _small_ chance that you could use Raging Heart..." said Yuuno unsure. At this point he was clutching at straws.

The ferret boy bent down and picked up the innocuous red jewel.

He put it on the table and said "Could you cup your hands for a moment? Only Raging Heart could tell us if you can use my style of magic or not," said Yuuno.

Shirou cupped his hands together and the ferret dropped the red jewel into his hands.

 _ **Warning. This user has parasitic attachment to his core. Would recommend a level-five purge before attempting to access linker core.**_

Yuuno's eyes were wide.

"What's a level-five?"

"It's only for the really, really serious cases. Most people wouldn't survive a level-five parasitic attachment, especially someone under twenty."

Shirou looked at the bauble in his hands.

"Is there any danger of me using magic without purging it first?"

 _ **Full access to linker core is restricted unless a purge is completed.**_

"So basically I wouldn't be able to use my full potential right away until I purge it?"

 _ **There is also a high level artifact inside the body. It appears to be shielding the Linker Core,**_ offered Raging Heart.

"Is this artifact dangerous?"

 _ **It appears to have completely merged with the core, providing an accelerated healing rate. No malevolent energy detected.**_

While that was nice to know, it didn't exactly _answer_ the question.

Yuuno decided not to think about it for the moment.

"Is it possible for Shirou to use you?" he asked finally.

 _ **This user has the power requirements to access most functions.**_

Yuuno let out a sigh he hadn't known he was holding. If Shirou _could_ use Raging Heart, then maybe this would work out after all.

"So...how do I use this thing?"

Yuuno straightened.

"You have to use the passcode, at least at first. If your core can handle it, you could probably activate Raging Heart without it, but you need it for the first time in order to have it reset on a new user. I didn't have the power requirements for it though. I mostly used it to help with calculations," admitted Yuuno.

Shirou picked the ferret up and went into the shed out back. It was where he practiced his magecraft...and unknown to him, his father had laid several bounded fields over it so Shirou would always have a safe place for himself.

Not even Taiga would intrude on Shirou when he went into the shed and locked the door.

Yuuno sat in his ferret form.

"Admin rights, new user setup function fully open," he said firmly.

Underneath Shirou a massive circle sprang forth. It was clearly a ritual circle, but not one he was familiar with.

"Now repeat after me," said Yuuno. Shirou nodded.

 _Wind in the sky. Stars in the heavens._

 _A shining light on my arms._

 _An indomitable spirit in my heart._

 _Grant your magic into my hands._

 _Raging Heart, Set up!_

It felt amazing. Best of all there wasn't the usual pain down his spine like he got whenever he used his 'circuits'.

 _ **Shall I use the optimum configuration for the barrier jacket and device?**_

"Um...sure I guess."

Underneath Shirou was a steel gray with bloody red streaks. Yuuno had never heard of anyone with _two_ colors for their magic. He wondered if the second was from the parasite.

Shirou could feel himself floating above his floor, just a few feet but it put him level with the second floor of his workshop. Raging Heart seemed to pull out the bare bones of his barrier jacket without any real input from him. Red cloth sprang over his body, and then molded into hard gray armor around the chest area. It was like a he was wearing a jacket on top, with a weird sort of cloak that flared around his hips and went down to his ankles. He had a pair of combat books, black in color, and around his wrists were an archer's arm guards...only these were tweaked a bit. They ended in two wide ovals.

All in all, not what he was expecting out of his armor.

But if the armor was strange, then the device was even more so. It looked like a pair of swords, only one was steel colored and the other was a bright red the color of freshly spilled blood. At the pummel was what looked like Raging Heart, or at two halves of it. Shirou noticed an odd marking on the bottom of each sword. On a hunch, he put the two halves together...and with a flash they turned into a bow that fit perfectly in his hands.

 _ **Bombardment mode.**_

"I'd say it's more 'Archer mode', but I suppose I could shoot it like a cannon..." muttered Shirou.

It wasn't a minute too soon to test out Shirou's new barrier jacket or device. There was a sudden crash down the street, and running outside revealed the monster from earlier. Shirou paled and asked "What do I do?"

"I might not have all my power back, but I can at least do this!" said Yuuno.

The world suddenly took on a deep red tint. It was strange.

"What was that?"

"Temporary displacement spell. Keeps anyone without magic from getting caught in something they shouldn't and helps with witnesses."

Shirou could immediately see the benefit of this. But right now he was more focused on getting rid of the monster.

Shirou ran outside the walls...and came face to face with something that looked like a slime monster with rabbit ears.

"I need arrows!" he shouted to Yuuno.

 _ **I can form arrows out of your magic.**_

Shirou looked doubtful at his new bow, but instinct took over once the monster roared and then came crashing towards him. He went to where the bow was lengthwise and pulled back as if he could see a string. In the back of his mind he could feel the roar of flames, the sound of a hammer striking an anvil. His circuits flared in his arms, and he let go.

Arrows formed at the tip and hit the monster dead on, sending it crashing into a lamp post. Yuuno stared.

Shirou's expression blanked out as he kept on shooting, never missing once. Yuuno had never seen such accuracy in his entire life.

Then he got a good look at Shirou's eyes...they were glowing, almost like they were made from pure amber.

The monster was pissed, but the arrows definitely slowed it down considerably. It charged trying to strike at the one that hurt it.

Shirou's blank expression didn't change, but the 'bow' form became the swords from before, and his moves were smooth. Too smooth for it to be natural. And if Yuuno didn't know any better he would swear Shirou's hair was _white_ as he struck with such precision it was like watching a master.

 _ **Sealing mode.**_

Raging Heart slid from two swords into a single one that looked like a broadsword. Shirou's roar was only drowned out by the sheer amount of magic he put into his downward strike. The false form of the Jewel Seed practically _melted_ away as it became an innocuous sea-green colored diamond shaped jewel.

 _ **Receipt number XXI.**_ Raging Heart said as the Jewel Seed flew into the pommel.

With that, the barrier jacket dispersed and Shirou almost collapsed.

"Shirou!" yelped Yunno.

"Ow."

The weird thing was that he had expended so much prana...and yet he still didn't feel as crappy as the time he almost overextended his nerves to the point he was permanently paralyzed.

He managed to get back inside and get something to eat before he all but dropped into his bed and fell sound asleep. Generally this meant he would be out cold for the night and wouldn't wake until Taiga showed up for breakfast.

Thankfully for Shirou, tomorrow was a Sunday and she was still in Tokyo in her grandfather's place. Shirou didn't ask and in exchange the head of the Fujimura never brought the Yakuza into his daily life outside of getting him to fix the motorcycles that were often broken and feeding his granddaughter.

He was paid fairly and the old man was like a surrogate grandfather to him anyway.

Still didn't stop that idiot cop from coming over trying to get information from him.

* * *

Shirou woke up the next morning feeling like he always did. In fact he felt strangely energetic.

That was a good thing, considering what happened next.

"SHIIIRRRROOOUU! I'M BAAAACK!"

A chill went down his spine. If Fuji-nee was back early, that meant he would have to hurry in order to feed her.

Shirou brushed his teeth, washed his face and got dressed in record time. There was no telling how long until the Taiga went on a rampage from hunger.

He walked into the dining room to find...Taiga having a staring contest with a ferret? Since when did he...oh. The memories of last night hit him like a brick.

It would be easier to talk to her when she wasn't about to bite his head off.

"Shirou...when did you get a pet?" she asked dangerously.

"I found him last night after he was attacked by a stray dog. Fortunately he seems to be pretty smart, because he's able to do a few tricks and he was only a little bruised," said Shirou, thinking on quickly his feet while he brought out eggs, rice, tomatoes and some meat. "So how was Tokyo?"

Taiga made a face.

"It smelled, I had to wear all that stupid make-up and people kept dropping hints on 'nice boys' that happened to be connected to other Families," complained Taiga...before she smirked "Luckily none of them know a knife from a sword, because I said I would date the first guy who could beat me in the dojo. Most lost interest after that."

Shirou winced in spite of himself. Taiga was a _demon_ when she had the Tora Shinai. Especially when she was hungry. The irony was that her grandfather agreed with those terms, stating anyone who couldn't handle being beaten the crap out of by his crazy granddaughter wasn't worthy to be part of his family.

"So did you hear anything weird last night? It looked like one of the lamp posts got hit by a truck," said Taiga.

Shirou quickly latched onto that lie, as he said casually "I heard a crash right before I went to bed, but the guy had already driven off. I didn't get a very good look at the vehicle or the driver."

Taiga shook her head.

"You and your hero complex. So what's this little guys name?"

"Yuuno. At least that was the name on the tag. I was going to call the number later," said Shirou. That way he could claim Yuuno's "owners" had found Shirou's house if he had to leave in a hurry.

"So what kind of tricks can he do?" asked Taiga already salivating at the smells coming from the kitchen.

Shirou shot the ferret a look, who got the hint since he had been listening into the conversation.

"Well so far he knows how to shake and stand," said Shirou. That wasn't too degrading.

Taiga looked at the ferret eagerly.

"Shake!"

Yuuno sweatdropped before raising his right paw.

"SOOOO CUTE!" squealed Taiga, hugging the unfortunate ferret in her bosom.

 _~Shirou, I need air! HELP!~_

"Breakfast is ready, or the first half is," said Shirou quickly.

Taiga released the ferret who had swirls in his eyes from lack of oxygen and attacked the food on the table with all the ferocity of a piranha to blood. There was no escape. Yuuno...was horrified and fascinated at the same time.

 _~Never stand between Fujimura Taiga and my cooking.~_

Yuuno nodded in shocked agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

Shirou was sitting with Yuuno with a cup of tea. Taiga had left, but she would be back by dinner.

"So...who was that?"

"Fujimura Taiga. Heir to the Fujimura clan and a moocher. She comes here for breakfast and dinner almost every day, and I make her lunch besides that. Her grandfather pays the bills until I'm legally old enough to handle the accounts. In exchange I help by repairing his motorcycles and acting as a safe haven for some of his injured. They don't say anything about their work and I don't ask. It's an easy truce."

"...What sort of work do they do?"

"Let me put it this way... I had to scare off a couple of idiot detectives who couldn't believe that Taiga is a major mooch and only comes here to bum food off of me, and that I had no connections, nor do I ask about anything they consider important," deadpanned Shirou.

Yuuno sweatdropped. It was an answer that explained everything but said absolutely nothing about what the clan did.

"So does she..."

"No. And I make it a rule to mostly practice my magic in the shed, which she never goes into. It's my workshop, but it's also my safe haven where people tend to leave me alone," said Shirou.

"Workshop?"

"All Magi have a workshop. It's considered the center of their research. People have been killed because they breached someone's workshop. It's considered sacred and breaking into one is considered a major insult."

"But you let me into the shed..." said Yuuno.

"I'm not much of a magus to begin with. I just don't like having people in my space, but I don't mind the occasional visitor. And if you remember, I carried you into it."

Which was the only reason why the bounded fields didn't react to Yuuno's presence.

"So...if I need to find you and I can't, then go right outside the shed?" said Yuuno.

"What about that weird thing you did earlier?"

"Telepathy?"

"Yeah."

"I suppose that could work."

With that settled, Yuuno decided to question Shirou on what he knew about magecraft. Which wasn't much, as it turned out. Kiritsugu was many things, but a good teacher he was not. He never noticed Shirou was using his circuits wrong!

So Yuuno decided to give Shirou a lesson in his version of magic 101.

Which for some reason, to his disbelief, involved less 'enforcing your will on the world' and more math than he would have believed possible.

On the plus side, Fuji-nee was likely going to be _very_ happy about his math grades after this...

* * *

Rin Tohsaka was not a morning person. A fact the priest she was forced to spend far too much time with took extraordinaire pleasure in reminding her of this fact. Along with making her taste buds feel like they were on _fire_. No one should like peppers that much.

She was also a Magus, or one in training anyway. Her family specialized in jewelcraft...which was expensive.

So imagine her luck when she stumbles across a jewel that was emitting an odd energy. One she had never encountered before.

No way in hell was that damn priest getting his hands on this.

She couldn't wait to get home and experiment on it.

* * *

Sakura Matou was not a very happy girl. In fact if you knew the full story of her life, it would make any reasonable human being into a one-person mob ready to commit murder on her behalf. Abused at an early age because her father handed her over to the most morally corrupt Magus she had the misfortune to know, Sakura had been defiled, abused, and forced to learn how to use the same magic that had turned her into little more than a puppet for her 'grandfather' to use and use.

Her 'brother' Shinji, was already starting to abuse her in more ways that one, and on orders from her 'grandfather' to boot.

She wished more than anything for the damnable worms in her body to simply _die_ and never come back, to be free of the life she was living. At this point, even death seemed preferable.

So when she came across a seemingly innocent jewel filled with weird energy, at first she didn't think anything of it. When it was still there as she came back, she decided to pick it up. At the very least it was something pretty that she wouldn't have to share with Shinji.

* * *

"Owie...my head hurts," said Shirou.

All those complicated math problems...for someone more used to using his muscles than his brain, it made his head hurt pretty bad. His brain felt like mush.

Yuuno at least took pity on him and let him take a break.

"I can't believe your magic needs so much math," complained Shirou.

"You're the one who wanted to see if you could use it properly. I still don't see what the problem was you were having with this magecraft though."

Shirou sighed. Then an idea occurred to him. Maybe Raging Heart could figure out where he was going wrong?

"Ne, Raging Heart. Do you think you could keep an ongoing scan while I practice my magecraft? Maybe there's something I'm not seeing or doing wrong," said Shirou.

 _ **Alright.**_

Shirou looked for something to use and saw a tool he generally used to tighten up screws.

 **Trace on.**

Almost immediately Raging Heart let off a warning alarm. Shirou almost dropped the tool in surprise.

 _ **Warning. Using current pathways is ill advised. Continued use may lead to permanent paralysis.**_

"What?"

"Raging Heart, exactly what is Shirou doing wrong?" asked Yuuno.

 _ **User Shirou is augmenting his natural pathways through his nervous system, instead of using the pathways already there.**_

"Wait, what?!" said Shirou, in absolute shock.

No wonder he always felt like he was sticking a hot rod down his back!

"Shirou, how do you normally _use_ magic?" asked Yuuno slowly.

As Shirou walked through how he accessed his circuits, Yuuno stopped him halfway through in horrified disbelief.

Apparently Shirou had been accessing his circuits the wrong way for years, and his dad had never caught it.

By the time dinner was close, Yuuno coached Shirou on how he _should_ have been accessing his circuits. He could immediately tell the difference...the pain wasn't _nearly_ as bad.

* * *

Rin was irritated and excited at the same time. The odd gem she had found had a _ton_ of prana already packed in it, but she had no idea how to access it. She didn't dare try to use it like she would some of her other gems, because it was the only specimen she had.

Rin put it away in a special container only for the more unstable gems. Something about this particular jewel gave her the vibe that if she didn't lock it up, it would go berserk. And she couldn't have that with her only specimen, especially if she planned on duplicating the thing. Frustrated beyond belief, she went to sleep hoping that a good nights rest would be able to clear everything up.

Instead she was rudely awakened by some sort of monster. This was not her night.

* * *

Shirou was awakened by Raging Heart...and Yuuno yelling at him.

"A jewel seed has activated!"

"I'm up, I'm up," said Shirou, yawning. One week and he had already gotten used to the mathematical side of this strange magic. Raging Heart helped by remembering the formulas, but his brain still felt like mush after.

Thankfully today he had chosen to take a break from it all, both his training and his mind. He knew full well he had a fast healing factor, apparently boosted by some artifact he didn't know he had, but only a fool would overwork themselves when trying something new. He had learned that lesson when he almost ended up a paraplegic because he had been using his circuits the wrong way...and too often.

Shirou got his shoes on and let Yuuno sit on his shoulder before he began to follow Raging Heart's directions. Before long he could see a twin-tailed girl in red about his age fighting a Jewel Seed that must have activated sometime during the night. From the looks of it, she was a Magus...a junior one anyway. She apparently didn't realize you had to seal the thing for it to stop.

She looked pretty pissed too.

"Raging Heart," said Shirou quietly.

 _ **Alright. Stand by, Ready.**_

The now familiar steel gray and blood red encircled him and his barrier jacket covered him without any hesitation whatsoever in his stride. The device was in bow form, because he could do more damage with that than he could in sword form, at least from this distance.

Shirou's arrows were faster than any bullet, and many times more accurate. Despite the fact he was still running toward the thing, his shots never missed once. The girl didn't falter either, using some weird curse on the thing that looked very painful if the monster's screams were any indication.

Yuuno had already set up the red barrier. The fact the girl hadn't disappeared only confirmed she had magic, at least enough to stay inside.

At the very least he was glad this was in a relatively isolated area.

Shirou finally got close enough to use his sealing mode on it without getting the girl hit with the resulting blast wave.

 _ **Sealing Mode.**_

The device came down like the Sword of Damocles. The beast was shredded and became a simple jewel, which Shirou quickly sealed into his device.

 _ **Reciept number XVIII.**_

Considering he now had to deal with a rather irate and cranky Magus who would no doubt demand answers, Shirou wisely didn't dispel his barrier jacket. He had a barrier spell in his quick-cast slot in Raging Heart, just in case she decided to take out her anger on him.

He still hadn't gotten the hang of flying yet, despite the fact he could deploy the wings and use Flier Fin.

Yuuno had laughed himself sick when he saw how lopsided Shirou had been while flying. It was like the boy had been trying to swim or something.

It was ironic that most people would kill for the ability to fly through the air like a bird, but for some it wasn't exactly a walk in the park.

Shirou, after the last time he crashed into the tree near his shed, decided it would be a last resort option. He would rather just shoot something down with his arrows instead, or use Flier Fin to keep him from falling off buildings at odd angles.

The girl looked rather cross with him. Now that she had her breath back she looked even more annoyed than before.

"Who are you and how did you do that?" she demanded.

"Call me Shirou, and it was mostly Raging Heart's doing. I can't keep up with half the calculations needed for sealing," said Shirou honestly.

"Raging Heart?" said the girl.

Shirou held up the bow, which split into twin swords.

"Shirou!"

Yuuno came bounding up, still in ferret form...when he realized Shirou wasn't as alone as he thought. He had wondered why it was taking so long...normally the other boy would leave right away, especially at night, so he could get some sleep.

The girl took one look at the ferret and began to twitch...before she started laughing.

"Oh kami, you're a magical boy!" she cracked up. It was hilarious.

"So who are you anyway?"

"My name, little magical boy, is Tohsaka Rin. And I own the lands around the city, or I will once I receive my father's crest."

Shirou, if he wasn't already nervous, paled.

Crap. He had just run headfirst into the Second Owner of Fuyuki and the one person who could make his life absolutely miserable if she didn't want him around her territory. His dad had mentioned the three major families who started the Grail Wars.

The Tohsaka, who provided the leyline and the site for the tournament. The Matou, who created the Command Seals. And the Einzberns, who would created the Lesser Grail that would allow the Greater one to manifest. And of course Zelretch, who's use of the Kaleidoscope allowed the Masters to summon the servants in the first place.

"Anyway, since when is there another..." started Rin, before her eyes went past Shirou to look at her house. Her eyes twitched, and Shirou had a bad feeling. He had been in front of her when he blasted the monster, but he hadn't paid any attention to the surroundings outside of that.

Turning slowly, he winced as he realized the extent of the damage. If Rin tried to sleep in her house, it would be very uncomfortable as there were several holes from where the Jewel Seed had crashed through walls, not to mention the rather _large_ hole from Shirou's final attack.

Seeing her annoyance and anger level rising, Shirou thought fast.

"Um... My house has extra bedrooms?" he offered.

"And where exactly _is_ your house?" asked Rin dangerously. She looked seriously angry.

Shirou sweatdropped. Why did he feel like things had just gotten _way_ more complicated...and that his peaceful life was about to become much harder?

He could only hope throwing Yuuno to the angry red wolf in front of him would work until he could find a way to compromise. He didn't want to explain to Fuji-nee why he had to move abruptly...or end up being killed by an irate Magus.

* * *

Rin was _not_ happy. First her house has to undergo repairs because of some weird monster, then a Magus (a crappy one but still a Magus) was living in her territory without her knowledge, and now she had to deal with _the_ most annoying woman on the planet when she was barely awake in the first place.

On the plus side, this Shirou Emiya was a nice, if very naïve idiot who had been smart enough to offer one of the spare bedrooms until her house was repaired...though he seemed resigned over the fact she was going to be visiting him from now on.

Finding out he had stumbled across an unknown-till-now style of magic that almost anyone with circuits could use meant she planned to exploit it the first chance she got. Especially when she finally got a look at the stand-by form of Raging Heart.

She wanted a Device, if only so she could advance her family's Jewel Craft and earn a spot in Clock Tower. That barrier thing the ferret kid used was _extremely_ useful.

She just wished these Intelligent Devices didn't sound so much like...shudder...Ruby.

Yuuno had taken one look at the thing and immediately asked her where she got such a perverted Unison Device. Learning there were others like Ruby out there had given Rin nightmares. She just wanted something like Raging Heart...she never wanted to deal with something like Ruby ever again.

Besides, the familiar system Yuuno showed her looked very interesting...

That still didn't excuse Fujimura Taiga for being such a headache and a half before her fourth cup of coffee loaded with enough sugar to keep even a college kid awake during exam time.

* * *

 _ **Yes, I am aware that some of the damage would reverse once Yuuno dropped the barrier. But Rin doesn't and Shirou generally doesn't stick around to notice this fact.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Nanoha Takamachi was an ordinary girl. At least until she picked up an innocuous looking jewel on the way home from school. What happened two days after still left her head spinning.

Her ordinary life took a jump off the deep end to something far more interesting.

Primarily because of the two who came to claim the odd jewel she had picked up.

It started like this...

"Hurry up Shirou! I want to get rid of this stupid stick as fast as I can!" said Rin.

" **I take offense to that! I'm not stupid!"** complained Ruby.

"Shut it you perverted stick! If it weren't for the fact Shirou can't fly worth a damn I wouldn't have had to drag you out of whatever hole you came from!"

"..."

Shirou would like to dispute that claim, but the truth was that he still felt uncomfortable flying. At least he wasn't crashing into trees anymore, and he had learned how to fly...more or less...though it was embarrassing he had to rely on Rin to go faster than a moderate walking pace.

Rin had insisted on joining them, and when Yuuno saw how she contained the jewel seed _she_ had picked up, he agreed she could help.

The container she used had the strongest barriers against jewel related artifacts from going berserk inside the box. It meant that in the event Shirou was out of commission, Yuuno and Rin could retrieve the Jewel and transport it safely.

Rin just wished that didn't mean she had to rely on _Ruby_.

Landing in the nearby town, Shirou and Rin split off the find the Jewel seed. Apparently Ruby could sense the things within a good distance, unlike Raging Heart.

"There!" said Rin, as Ruby began letting off a weird pinging noise.

A girl with auburn red hair and pigtails was walking alone on the path.

Shirou took charge, just in case Rin said or did something to insult the girl and make things much harder.

"Excuse me, have you see a weird jewel thing lying around?"

The girl looked at his weird outfit and had to ask "Are you a magical boy or something?"

Shirou sweatdropped.

"Unfortunately. There was an incident somewhere and a whole bunch of these jewel seeds were scattered and I was given the job of collecting them until the proper authorities showed up. My partner and I detected one nearby," said Shirou, knowing instinctively that daring to call Rin his 'sidekick' was a horribly, painful _bad_ idea.

Rin discreetly lowered her left hand which was fully prepared to shoot a Finn shot at Shirou if he had dared to call her his sidekick.

The girl took out a jewel seed.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Shirou looked relieved.

"That's it."

"I found it outside my house embedded in a tree."

" **Another pesky jewel seed collected. Go team!"** said Ruby.

Rin's temper snapped.

"Shut up you useless staff! You didn't even _do_ anything!"

Ruby had had enough of Rin, and it could sense this girl had the potential to become a magical girl.

" **You know Rin there is a point where people say enough to attitudes like yours!"** said Ruby suddenly.

"Ruby, what the hell are you..."

" **And luckily for me, there is an available replacement right here!"** said Ruby.

"WHAT?!"

Ruby freed itself from Rin's grip, before flying to the surprised (and very confused) red head.

" **What's your name?"**

"Ano... Takamachi Nanoha."

"Ruby, what the hell are you doing...?!" said Rin in a half-shriek.

She had to put up with this stupid thing just to help, and now it's abandoning her? At least it wasn't mid-air or with someone she absolutely hated, but still...

(And why did she have the sudden feeling of deja vu to Ruby doing this?!)

" **So miss Takamachi, how would you like to be a magical girl? You could help us collect the jewel seeds and learn magic~!"**

"Ruby, isn't that a bit much to ask?" said Shirou, scratching his head.

" **Not at all~! This girl has a _lot_ of magical potential!"** said Ruby.

Rin fumed.

"Well then how exactly are we supposed to get home? Shirou still can't fly very fast, and I can't fly at all without you!"

"I can teleport us back to Shirou's house. I can do that much at least," said Yuuno.

"Seriously? Teleportation? But I thought you needed a device or whatever to do stuff like that!" said Rin to the ferret boy.

"Not really. Devices are more or less short cuts, but the sheer amount of math and power requirements are a nightmare, which is why most just get the basic models. I can do a limited amount of spells without one, but I can't really fight without something to boost my power," explained Yuuno in lecture mode.

"...You are so teaching me these spells of yours later," said Rin finally. To not have to rely on that stupid Ruby to fly...

While they were talking, Nanoha forged a contract with Ruby, unaware that the stick was an annoyance to anyone with any sense.

It looked like Shirou's group had grown by one. Then something completely unexpected happened.

Ruby tried to store the jewel seed the same way Raging Heart did...and accidentally absorbed it.

"Wha... What just happened?"

" **It would appear that my desire to see if I could store things like Raging Heart resulted in an unusual side effect. I'm not entirely sure I can remove the jewel seed,"** said Ruby embarrassed. Suddenly the device perked up.

"What is it?"

" **A message from the creator. The one who made me and my sister Sapphire,"** said Ruby. She suddenly turned into a strange sort of projector.

" _ **Well isn't this an interesting turn of events?"**_

The man could have been in his fifties. He had white hair, red eyes, and clear fangs. He was obviously a Dead Apostle Ancestor.

"YOU!" shrieked Rin.

"Rin who is that?"

"Zelretch, Master of the Second True Magic and known troll. He's the bastard who made Ruby and left it to my family," said Rin through gritted teeth.

" _ **How amusing. It would seem that fate has somehow gotten so mixed up it's impossible to untangle."**_

"What do you mean?" asked Shirou.

" _ **You, Shirou, were supposed to stay in Fuyuki, not become a magical boy. And Takamachi-san was supposed to be the one who found the ferret and become a magical girl. However something seems to have gotten your destinies switched around, which is quite odd now that I think about it. If Ruby hadn't assimilated the Jewel Seed I never would have picked up on the fact something was off,"**_ explained the rather annoying Magician.

"I hate you so much right now," stated Rin.

" _ **In any case Rin...you now officially owe me for losing Ruby to someone who has never experienced magic until now,"**_ said Zelretch, pointing at the pig-tailed girl.

"EH?!"

" _ **And before you say anything, you can't use Shirou or Nanoha to do your work for you."**_

"WHAT?!"

" _ **And your first task is to find something to do with the jewel seed you've no doubt acquired by now before the TSAB finally gets to Earth...and act as Shirou's support unit without a device."**_

"How long until the TSAB arrives?" asked Yuuno.

" _ **Well if things go as they have before, a few weeks after the appearance of the rival. Good luck children...and if you manage to impress me I might show up to train you personally~!"**_ said Zelretch before the message cut off.

"That...That...THAT DAMN BLOODSUCKER!"

"What just happened?"

"It would seem Rin has annoyed someone powerful, and now has to act like his 'toy' for a while," said Shirou.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"For Rin maybe. He did specify we weren't to do all the work. In the mean time, why don't we exchange numbers so we can contact each other in an emergency?"

"Ah! Good idea!"

Sakura Matou was staring at her double in shock.

Dark Sakura, the voice she had in the back of her head for years, stared back, before flipping her hair away from her face. It was a shade or two darker than Sakura's hair. In fact, everything about her double was a shade or two darker.

"Who are you?"

" _I am you. The dark voice in the back of your mind. If you are Sakura, you may call me Arukas."_

"If you're my darkness, can I call you Yoru instead?"

" _Fine by me. Not like I care what you call me by... However, there is one thing I want to make very clear before I start going to school with you."_

"Eh? What?"

" _Shinji is a dead man if he tries to touch me. I will not suffer that idiot or the_ thing _you call Grandfather. In fact, why don't I dispose of them both right now?"_

"And go where, Yoru?"

Yoru had no answer to that.

"Well until we find somewhere to stay, we leave them alive. However I give you full permission to traumatize Shinji so much that he wouldn't dare touch us with a ten meter pole," said Sakura. Yoru's smirk became a little fanged and evil.

The next morning Yoru managed to get into Sakura's class and claimed she was her distant cousin from France. When Shinji tried to press matters... he ended up a pile of broken bones and blood on the floor.

Yoru wouldn't suffer his arrogance anymore.

The addition of Nanoha to the group, ironically enough, actually helped Rin find a way to use the Jewel Seeds in a _productive_ manner.

Hopefully she could do so before the deadline Zelretch set for her, though Shirou had the distinct feeling that once she did, she was in for a world of migraines and humiliation.

As it turned out, Nanoha was four years younger than Rin and Shirou, and a year younger than Yuuno was. Which caused her to call the two of them 'sempai'. It was undeniably adorable.

However Rin sensed some sort of dark side to the smiling girl. Like she was a world of pain just waiting to be unleashed on some poor unsuspecting bastard. She got the same vibe from her former sister Sakura, that weird double Yoru, and Shirou, strangely enough.

It made her gravitate that much more to Yuuno, the only _normal_ seeming one of the group next to her.

"Fuji-nee, what exactly is _World of Warcraft_?" asked Shirou. He only asked because Yuuno had seen an advertisement and was curious.

What would happen next would give Shirou and Rin nightmares for weeks.

Fujimura Taiga, relieved Shirou was finally acting _normal_ , brought over her entire game collection along with her spare laptop.

Yuuno was soon playing games like _League of Legends_ , _Hellgate: London,_ and _World of Warcraft_ while Shirou and the others were at school. However games confused the two Magi born since they didn't have much in the way of diversions. Even Nanoha had played games before.

Which lead to this.

"Yuuno...what exactly is this?" asked Rin.

"It's one of those new Playstation 4 things. Taiga-san dropped it off earlier as a birthday present to Shirou...along with a ton of the more popular games," said Yuuno. "It can play music, videos, all sorts of stuff. It can even connect to the internet!"

"...So it's basically a really fancy computer like device that plays on the TV? I don't think my TV model can handle it..." started Shirou, having overheard it, before he realized there was something off about the room. "Yuuno...where's my TV?"

"Taiga had some men remove it to the storage shed where you keep your workshop. It still plays, but they got a weird vibe from the place."

"...And what's this thing?"

"A new flatscreen that's already hooked up to the Playstation. There's some sort of application that allows you to pick up on local channels and the radio," said Yuuno.

Seeing Rin struggle to figure out how to turn the thing on, Yuuno quickly added "That Zelretch character showed up after Taiga left...he did something to the console and the TV's."

Rin froze.

"He did something?"

Yuuno handed her a note.

She took it...and when she read it aloud she started to tremble with suppressed rage.

"DAMN THAT BLOODSUCKER!"

 _No matter how frustrated you get at the games, any magical or physical attack on the console or TV will be reflected back at you. Have fun learning to loosen up, Tsundere-chan._

 _Zelretch._

Rin hated video games. She could tolerate the radio and the satellite TV, but when it came to anything more advanced than that she was so out of depth it wasn't even funny.

Shirou, however, became instantly addicted to anything that let him fight using swords or bows. Needless to say he became the man to beat in those games. He was seriously considering learning how to code...it might come in handy someday.

And thus began Rin's slow (and extremely aggravating) education in modern technology courtesy of Taiga who was aghast the girl had no idea how to even turn on the console or the new flatscreen.

Nanoha, of course, listened to Shirou's descriptions of that with a nervous laugh and some amusement. She would be joining them soon enough for Golden Week.


	4. Chapter 4

Illyasviel von Einzbern had no idea the headaches...and joy...that the oddly shaped jewel she had found in her little garden outside her window would bring.

It was in the middle of a rather boring test of it's powers that she noticed it had grown quiet. Too quiet for her home. She picked the jewel up and put it into a magic-proof bag before going to see what was happening. She didn't trust her cousins not to try and steal her new experiment.

It was when she was passing by a window that she spotted them. A boy with hair almost as white as hers, with a ferret, and two girls. Both had twin pigtails and the darker haired one was arguing with what appeared to be a magical toy that was held by the other who was a red head.

The sky was an off color, and Illya suspected they had something to do with it. Though it was what the angry twin-tailed girl had in her hands that caught her attention.

It was a crude, if effective, version of the staff in the other girl's hands, but in the center was a very familiar jewel!

Illya went outside and was almost immediately spotted. She decided to see why they were intruded on her family's property.

"So, why are three Magi intruding on Einzbern family property?" she said a little too sweetly. It made the boy shudder.

The angry one abruptly shut up, before turning to the lone male of the group.

"This is the _Einzbern_ family castle?! YOU IDIOT, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"

Well at least ONE of them knew whose family this area belonged to.

"What's the problem? We're only here to retrieve the jewel seed before it goes out of control," said the male, obviously oblivious.

"The Einzberns are one of the top clans in the Magus Association! They were part of the original Grail War and every one since, you IDIOT!" shrieked the angry one who smacked him on the head.

"Well how am I supposed to know about that? Kiritsugu never said anything about a Grail War and he was an even worse teacher when it came to magecraft!" protested the boy.

Anything Illya could have said died on her lips the second he said that name. Kiritsugu...there was no way this was...

"You there, whitey!"

The boy mouthed the name whitey, before obviously giving Illya's own snow-white locks a look as if to say 'you have no room to talk'.

"How do you know the Magus Killer?" said Illya furious.

"Magus Killer?" he said in confusion.

The angry one sighed, before explaining as if he were incredibly dense or idiotic, "Your dad, Kiritsugu Emiya, was known best to the Magus community as the Magus Killer. He would break through bounded fields and had a nasty habit of killing people who had nothing to do with his target just to get them into position."

The boy winced.

"Well I was never told anything about that. All I remember was dad taking long trips to Germany for some reason and coming back empty handed, and his inability to even teach," he said in defense.

It was him. Which meant she could get her revenge for him stealing her father away from her early.

Unknown to Illya, the Jewel Seed she had picked up began to pulse in response to her unspoken wish. It didn't care that she wanted to kill someone, it just wanted to fulfill her desire.

"Look out! The Jewel Seed is reacting to something!" said an unfamiliar voice. It hadn't come from the red head.

Illya felt something connect to her nature as the next container of the Lesser Grail...and something else entirely.

"Ruby's reacting to something too!" shouted the red head finally.

"What the hell is going on?"

A card appeared before Illya, and she took it, instinct guiding what happened next.

 _ **Install**_ **.**

" **This is bad! This is very bad!"** said Ruby, already knowing what would happen next. Thankfully instinct had told Illya to summon "Archer" instead of Saber or worse, Berserker.

And the Archer card Illya's soul was familiar with happened to be the SAME Archer Shirou was mimicking without realizing it.

Shirou went to meet her first, seeing as how he had the most fighting experience out of the trio.

However, what he didn't know was that being _that_ close to the Archer card from a parallel world and Illya's nature as the Lesser Grail would cause a chain reaction in him.

Every time his blades met Illya's, there was a resonance, and he could feel something take an interest in him, before dismissing him.

The two of them fought almost by instinct, neither giving way to the other, each using the _same_ tactics...and not one of them was even remotely winning.

At least, not until whatever it was that the card was based off of finally got tired of being resonated with and _did_ something.

Illya's blades shattered, and something took hold of Shirou. Almost like a complete download of information from an older version of himself that _wasn't_ him!

Shirou found himself chanting words he knew, but didn't know why he knew them. And something clicked into place.

" _I am the bone of my sword_

 _Steel is my body,_

 _Fire is my blood_

 _I have created over a thousand blades_

 _Unknown to Death_

 _Nor known to life_

 _Have withstood pain to create many weapons_

 _Yet these hands will never hold anything_

 _So as I pray Unlimited Blade Works..."_

 _ **Warning: Unknown resonance detected. Linker Core usage will exceed maximum parameters in six hundred seconds.**_

Raging Heart suddenly had a timer counting down, just as the world shifted into something Rin had only ever heard rumors about.

"No way...Emiya has a Reality Marble?" she whispered in shock.

"What's a Reality Marble?" asked Nanoha.

"It's a forbidden magic. It turns the owner's mental perception of the world around him into reality, distorting it. For as long as it's active, Gaia is eaten away at. Anyone who is caught researching into such a thing is usually given an automatic sealing designation and turned into a lab specimen, because it's really, really rare."

"Why?"

"Magecraft is something that tends to weaken the more people there are to use it. So if there's something that only _one_ person can use...then it tends to be pretty overpowered. If someone ever found out Shirou could use a reality marble like this, they're likely to kidnap him and experiment on him like a lab rat in order to figure out how to recreated so more could use it...and they aren't going to care if he survives the experience or not."

"That's horrible!" said Nanoha.

"To become a Magus is to walk hand in hand with death. Everyone knows that. It's one of the first things you learn. No one ever said magecraft had to be user friendly or pleasant," said Rin without any remorse on the topic.

"So what exactly is this?" asked Nanoha, desperate to change the subject.

"Like I said, this is how Shirou, or whoever the hell he's channeling, perceives the world. He just has the ability to project it."

The battle seemed to be winding down, and it was clear Shirou only needed one good blast to seal the Jewel Seed and hopefully return Illya to normal. If nothing else they could kidnap her or something, as it was unlikely the Einzberns would know who had taken her once the weird barrier thing Yuuno had put up was gone. The only question was what had set her off to the point that the Jewel Seed had reacted like _that_?

 _ **Sealing Mode.**_

Raging Heart turned into that strange broadsword, and with a wave of energy hit Illyasviel dead on. The jewel was forcibly extracted, leaving Illya out cold.

 _ **Receipt number XIII confirmed.**_ **_Shutting down Resonance Mode._**

Rin and Yuuno blinked. 'Resonance Mode'? Looking closer they could see Shirou's eyes were blank, and that his features were more sharp and defined. The swords in his hands were different too.

One was so black that it seemed to absorb all light into it, and had a tai chi with the black side facing up. The other was white, and seemed to reflect all light with the white tai chi facing up. They were practically identical in size and shape, and almost seemed attracted to one another.

Shirou would later call them Kanshou and Byakuya, though he had never seen them before that night.

With Illya out cold and the 'Resonance Mode' going off, the Reality Marble shattered like glass, revealing the area Yuuno had thrown up to keep anyone from getting in their way, like the local authorities.

Shirou groaned.

"My head...what just happened?"

 _ **You resonated with a spirit. Resonance Mode is now available, however the time limit until the Linker Core is purged is set at six hundred seconds before automatic shut down.**_

"Huh?"

So he could resonate with this...spirit thing...for ten minutes before it forcibly shut down?

Seeing Illya on the ground, he looked up at Yuuno who was on Nanoha's shoulder.

"Why did you leave her out when you set up the barrier anyway?"

"I don't know what happened!" protested Yuuno. "Maybe it left her out because she was touching the jewel seed at the time, or there's something in her genetic structure that confused it!"

"What do we do?" asked Shirou.

"Let's take her back. If nothing else we can dump her back here once we've convinced her to keep her mouth shut...or at the Einzbern castle at the edge of town. Otherwise we'll probably have more trouble than it's worth," said Rin without any hesitation. Nanoha felt uncomfortable by the idea, but as long as she wasn't party to killing another person she would keep silent.

* * *

Illyasviel woke up feeling terrible. And she wasn't in her room, so she knew she had been kidnapped. Which was weird because only an idiot would do something as foolish like that and risk pissing off her grandfather.

When she saw a boy who looked like the white haired idiot who claimed Kiritsugu as his father, only with red hair, she growled.

"You've got a lot of nerve, kidnapping me!" she said angrily.

"Why are you so mad at me anyway? I don't even _know_ you!"

"You took my father from me!" shouted Illya, her face red.

"...What?"

Illya grit her teeth as she said "Kiritsugu Emiya was my _father_. And thanks to you I was stuck living in the Einzbern castle all alone with only the castle homuculi to keep me company."

Shirou blinked, before his mind put together two and two.

"You're the reason he kept taking all those long trips to Germany only to come back looking disappointed. He must have been trying to get you back, but I'm guessing they wouldn't let him."

Illya didn't believe him for a moment, but when he came back into the room he had a passport, worn and stamped repeatedly...along with a second one that had never been used. He also had some legal papers that had been drawn up, but never signed.

The first one was for her father, and every single stamp outside of a lone one to England and back, was for Germany, in the same area where the outskirts of the Einzbern lands were. But it was the second one that made her revise her opinion of her father.

The second passport was for her, and the papers were to add to the Japanese family registry. They were so he could add Illya as his daughter without any fuss from the Einzberns.

She could feel tears welling up in her eyes.

"So the reason you tried to kill me was because Dad never told me about you and you were told that he had abandoned you?" Shirou summed up.

They had damn near killed each other over a misunderstanding. Shirou's opinion of magecraft and those that used it dropped a little more.

"Where am I?"

"My house. Just play along once Taiga comes in to mooch food off me again, and we should have everything straightened out by dinner."

"Taiga?"

"Fujimura Taiga, the closest thing I have to a guardian. She comes to bum food off me almost every day, and can be a little unreasonable."

"What do you plan to do with me?" asked Illya.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"Whether or not you want to go back to that castle or stay here. I for one would like to know my little sister, after all."

"How old are you?" asked Illya, a rather amused idea occurring to her.

"Almost fourteen why?"

"I'm actually _older_ than you. By almost two years," said Illya.

Shirou stared, because she didn't look fifteen or sixteen. In fact she looked more like she was Nanoha's age at least.

"I'm assuming there's a reasonable explanation for that?"

"There is, but it would take more prana than you could possibly have in your body to fix it," said Illya. She was under no illusions about her fate. If she didn't get her hands on the grail, she would die a year after the next war was scheduled to begin.

It was probably the sense of imminent chaos that drew Zelretch out of his lair early...or the fact Rin had successfully managed to convert a jewel seed into a rough mock-up of a magical staff like Ruby...only without the sentience.

It was a miracle they had managed to get that working before they found the location of the one that brought them to Illya in the first place, even if it did need a lot of tweaking.

Rin had actually tried to use the seed to recreate the jewel sword, but had to give up when the thing nearly blew up on her. So she converted it into a staff instead, meant to act as a device would.

In any case, he made things _slightly_ easier...by claiming to be Illya's grandfather and that they had tracked Shirou down instead of him stumbling upon her while retrieving a dangerous magical artifact.

Either way, Rin was not happy to see him. At all.


	5. Chapter 5

Zelretch sipped his tea, enjoying the waves of dislike and rage towards him from an incensed Rin Tohsaka, and the amused ones from Illya and Shirou respectively. Yuuno was busy playing some game or another, listening in.

"I'm impressed you managed to create a rough magical staff in such a short time."

"Like I had a choice," she bit out. As much as she respected him for being a master of Jewelcraft, she hated him personally. Damn bloodsucking troll.

Zelretch smirked...and so did Illya.

"I must say I'm surprised you found your sister so early. Normally your first meeting is during the Grail War, right before she tries to kill you. So my question is this, Shirou Emiya... Do you still want be a Magus?" he asked with a fanged grin, as if to some private joke.

Shirou considered the idea. To be honest, being a Magus was only a means to an end to being a hero worthy of his father's ideal for peace. But after seeing the lengths the average Magus family was willing to go to reach the Root...he had become thoroughly disillusioned with it. After all, he would only ever be good at Projection because of his unique situation and the possession a Reality Marble...which Rin had to spell out for him the second she was sure Illya was sleeping off what happened, while pinching his ear to make sure he _paid attention_.

"Do the mages that use linker cores instead of circuits have any room for independent contractors?" Shirou asked Yuuno.

Before the ferret-boy could answer, having switched back to his human form to play games, Zelretch beat him to it.

"The TSAB does occasionally hire people outside the organization, but they'd have to be exceptionally skilled and require the right skill set. Not to mention it would usually be off the books or reinforcement-contracts," said Zelretch.

Yuuno wasn't the only one staring at him. They all were.

"Who did you think founded the entire organization, fairies?" he snorted.

"Oh dear god... You mean to tell me even if I went into this TSAB place I'd still have to deal with _you_?" said Rin in absolute horror. She couldn't catch a break! Zelretch's grin did not inspire happy thoughts.

Shirou on the other hand could care less. He didn't know what the TSAB was like, but he had misgivings about it until he knew better. Besides, paperwork. What sane fighter enjoyed doing _that_ just to file a report for a battle? However what little he did know about the Magus Association filled his stomach with glass at the mere thought of joining it as a full member, even with Zelretch's recommendation.

He wanted no part of a group that thought it was okay to experiment on children still in the womb like they had on Illyasviel. And if he did join then he would always have to worry about the threat of a Sealing Designation the moment anyone realized what he possessed.

No thank you, he was not that much of a masochist.

"I think I'd rather be an independent contractor that helped during difficult cases than go anywhere near the Magus Association."

Zelretch snorted. Then he did something that had Shirou, Illya and Rin facevault.

"Once you've successfully retrieved the seeds and complete the case, you'll need to fill these out in order to become a level one independent consultant. It'll allow you to act alongside the TSAB, but not be part of it or be held accountable for any call they make. And it'll give me a reason to train you lot in how to use magic without having the Magus Association or that hardass Lorelei coming down on my case," said Zelretch.

"Lorelei as in Lorelei, Queen of the Clock Tower?" said Rin, twitching. Illya wasn't much better.

"What? Just because I don't stick around often doesn't mean I enjoy listening to her harp at me for breaking the rules," said Zelretch in annoyance.

Shirou took the papers and made a note to fill them out as best he could in the morning. He still had to file the papers so Illya would be added to the registry as an Emiya instead of a Einzbern, if she was so inclined.

It would certainly piss them off once they found out, but he could care less.

* * *

 _One week later..._

Taiga happily handed Illya a new set of papers, declaring her as Illyasviel Emiya. Though Shirou had to fudge her age a bit, especially since Zelretch had tweaked her body in order to give her a proper linker core so she could use a device once she got one. It had taken some doing to convince him to do _that_ , seeing as how Shirou had to point out how much it would piss the head of the Einzbern clan that Illya was now more powerful and out of their reach for good.

The only reason she had agreed to it was because he fixed whatever was wrong with her...and because she found out living off-world was a viable option, meaning they wouldn't have to worry too much about a blood feud. Though they would have to avoid Earth for a while until things calmed down.

Now she looked closer to Shirou's age than the sixteen she should have been...but it meant she got to spend more time with her 'big brother' as she insisted on calling him so that was okay.

Things seemed to finally settled down after about two weeks after they...meet...Illyasviel and Nanoha was just happy she wasn't party to a kidnapping and murder, but rather a reunion between two siblings who hadn't known about their relationship. Well, Shirou hadn't, but Illya had been told to anger her and give her a reason to end him later.

And that's when the 'rival' Zelretch had mentioned finally showed up.

* * *

Fate Testarossa was only expecting one or two mages. All her intel before said that the researcher who found the seeds had suffered an accident and had to ask some random teen to help him collect the seeds.

She quickly found out that the information she had Arf gain was outdated when she found not two mages with a single device between them...but _four_ mages and one without a device wearing the traditional garb of the Scrya clan, likely the researcher.

Fortunately it seemed they were willing to talk first, because there was no way she would be able to fight that many. At least not until Arf came.

"So...you're name is Fate Testarossa? Why are you collecting these seeds?"

"My mother told me to," she replied, buying time. They had her surrounded and the boy with the swords felt dangerous to her. The white haired girl with the red eyes, even more so.

"I'm not going to ask why you're mother wants them. Quite frankly at this point it doesn't matter. All we care about is retrieving them before they go berserk, and so long as it doesn't hurt others we'll have no problems," said the boy.

"Shirou!" said the researcher. Fate hadn't bothered to learn his name.

"Look Yuuno, just because you trust the TSAB doesn't mean I do, and if they have a valid reason for needing these stupid things which only seem to cause trouble, then I might listen to them. Because I honestly have some serious doubts they'll ever get the ones Rin has already recovered without us away from her without some serious property damage and the desperate need for intense therapy that will take years to recover from," said Shirou flatly.

The angry looking one with the rough looking staff looked both pleased and slightly irritated at his assessment of her. She looked like she wouldn't part with her seeds without a fight, and if she lost then the other side would be suffering some serious damage in the process.

"Rin-san is somewhat scary when she's in the mood," conceded the red head with the pink staff that had feathers on the side. It gave Fate a bad feeling.

"Look, as long as you don't get in our way when we collect them and don't hurt anyone, we won't get in yours. Fair?" said Shirou. He had no interest in fighting Fate, and it had less to do with not wanting to fight the girl and more to do with the bruises his reinforced eyes could see under the small amount of skin the rather skimpy armor didn't hide.

Whatever he resonated with had also shared the ability to perfectly reinforce his body, and right now his vision was as clear as a hawk's when it spotted prey.

Fate stared at Shirou in the eyes, and realized that no matter how much of a threat he presented, he was very honest. And that even if she wanted to collect the jewel seed it wasn't likely to end very well in her favor, not with this much back-up.

She teleported out, not wanting to start a fight she wasn't sure she could finish.

"Shirou, what was that about?" demanded Yuuno, very upset.

"She had bruises and half-healed cuts on her. At least from what I could see. I think her mother is forcing her to collect them and isn't very nice. I don't want her being hurt because I was being stubborn about collecting these stupid things, and if we let her collect them separate from us then we can simply fight her for the ones she has later if we need to."

"I get it. You're going to ignore her collecting them because if nothing else we can simply take the ones she's gotten and save us time and energy. Very sneaky Shirou, I'm impressed," said Rin, realizing his plan.

"Onii-chan is definitely smart," said Illya in approval. Let the enemy do your work for you, and then snag the rewards once they're too tired to do anything about it. A very Magus-like way of thinking, and something she hadn't expected of him.

"It's mostly because I think she's being abused though," said Shirou. If he was wrong, then he wouldn't feel any remorse stealing them back later. If he was right, then he was saving someone else a lot of pain in the long run.

Either way, it meant less work.

They ran into Fate twice more before the issue came to a boil.

* * *

Fate and Shirou were fighting side by side against a rampant tree that apparently was tired of being carved into by couples. Illya was standing by with Yuuno...well it was more of a case of Yuuno staying firmly in ferret form on her shoulder since her aim still wasn't the best.

It seemed while Shirou had trouble flying without somehow ending upside-down, Illya had issues with control and aim. But she made for it with the sheer amount of power she was capable of using, just as Shirou made up for his issues by being so dangerous as a ranged and close-combat fighter.

Though Yuuno had noticed Shirou tended to fly better the less he thought about it, even if it looked more like he was skating on air.

Abruptly both fighters were placed into bindings, though Illya managed to avoid hers.

Shirou gave the teen a glare.

"Do you _mind_? We're trying subdue this stupid tree before someone sees it!"

"My name is Chrono Harloawn of the Time-Space Administration Bureau."

"Well that's nice, but I don't see what that has to do with the price of hops in Germany," said Illya snippy. She was not happy someone was intruding and getting in the way of their job.

"I believe the phrase is the 'price of _tea_ in _China_ '," said Shirou helpfully.

"I'm not Chinese," said Illya equally dry.

Chrono looked rather annoyed with the exchange, especially since they were apparently ignoring him.

"In any case I am hereby taking over the case," he said.

Shirou snorted.

"Good look getting the seeds away from Rin," he said.

Fate took the chance to break free from the bindings, and made the quick decision to retreat rather than deal with the TSAB. With Arf's help she was able to escape before this Chrono could catch her.

Shirou didn't bother to waste energy going against the binds. Odds were Illya would end this Chrono and break them anyway before he managed it.

It took Chrono five minutes to secure the seed, and Shirou was genuinely looking forward to this stuck up jerk who seemed to think that just because he was an official member of the TSAB that he was better than some backwards mage trying to confiscate the jewel seeds from Rin. Rin, who had already gotten _permission_ from the FOUNDER of the TSAB to study the Jewel Seeds!

Shirou managed to send a telepathic message to Zelretch to bring a camera and his uniform, if only so they could all enjoy the look on Chrono's face when he found that out. He knew the idea would appeal to the old troll, because he was quick to do just that.

* * *

Shirou wasn't the only one with an evil smirk on his face. Illya and Rin had one as well, only their smirks weren't nearly as nice as his own. Chrono looked pretty shaken up after getting his ass kicked by the tiny Rin...and then finding out she was apprenticed to Zelretch and given full permission to study the Jewel Seeds in hopes of making them useable, or better yet, recreating them in a safer form. The fact she had taken time to properly chew the boy out was the entire reason Shirou had told Zelretch to bring a video camera.

Rin could be _vindictive_ if she perceived someone was trying to steal from her...or in the case of Shirou, a hapless Magus who had helped nearly destroy her house. She had since moved back, but the fact of the matter was that he was now on her radar and she wasn't about to let him slip off it without a fight. Even ifhe _was_ related to an Einzbern homunculus.

Chrono's superior (who ironically enough also happened to be his MOTHER) seemed openly amused at seeing her son taken down a few pegs. Though that was tempered by the fact that THE Zelretch was on her ship, and openly amused by what had happened.

"You couldn't have informed us ahead of time that you had already selected _locals_ to retrieve the seeds, or at least get a decent head start?" said Captain Lindy.

Zelretch snorted.

"The only reason I never registered Earth as one of the Administrated worlds is because they haven't the capability of matching most of them and because the local magic users are self-righteous idiots more suited to research," said Zelretch flatly.

Clock Tower gaining knowledge there were other worlds out there with magic not limited to Magecraft? That was a disaster waiting to happen, and he wasn't going to even consider what would happen the second the Church got involved.

It was bad enough that two species decided to park it right on the damn planet, and dead Apostles were a pain enough to deal with...even if Arciued was the only True Apostle left alive.

Yuuno thought that one through...and the idea of people from the Magus Association and Clock Tower (he was using Rin and Illyasviel as examples in his head) and winced. The very idea of them gaining access to other worlds gave him nightmares, and he had only _limited_ experience with them.

"Well the fact of the matter is we don't exactly know how to classify something like this," said Lindy finally, her eyes settling on Rin, Illya, Nanoha and Shirou.

"Independent contractors, on loan from Zelretch," said Shirou, hooking a thumb at himself, Illya and Rin.

Nanoha hadn't exactly been enthused about being separate, and wanted to at least _meet_ the TSAB before she made up her mind whether to stay freelance or not.

"Have you..." started Lindy, before Shirou handed her three sets of paperwork.

All of them filled out where needed save for where she had to sign.

"He (Shirou pointed at Zelretch) gave us copies."

And then checked them for errors, spelling and grammar. Rin had been labeled as his apprentice, because if she could turn a jewel seed into a makeshift Mystic Code, then recreating his Jewel Sword was well within her grasp, once she had the right training...and he wasn't in the mood to make her life hell.


End file.
